I hope you like my very first computer-animated comic strip created through ToonDoo! If i figured it out, my students could, too. The site is very easy to navigate. I like that you publish your toon publicly or privately, and that you can comment on others' toons as well. For someone like me who cannot draw, ToonDoo provides you with backgrounds, props, characters, text, and more to create a vision online. I'm curious if an artistically talented student would feel limited on a site like ToonDoo, or if that student would still feel as though he/she had free reign over the creative possibilities.
Another similar site is Comiqs. Today, their server is down on the homepage, but it looks like you can still click on the "create" tab and begin creating. Comiqs would be a lot of fun in a digital photography class where students could manipulate their own photos. Another idea that comes to mind is to use Comiqs for teaching about marketing, advertising, and propaganda. It seems like a good site to create posters or items that could become a part of a greater project, such as a family photo album or multi-genre writing project (perhaps in Spanish).
Kerpoof is yet another option for creating comics online. What sets kerpoof apart from the other sites is that it has the option to make a movie. It looks like you can even include sounds, which would be a lot of fun for students. Kerpoof also includes lesson plans and has a "Teacher's Lounge" link- a big bonus!
All three of these sites allow students to create stories. I did a project once with my students where they had to work in groups and create a comic strip (6 quarters of big poster board)related to themes and the plot of Beowulf. (I took this idea from a colleague who had used it with Animal Farm). I had fun watching my students present their comic strips (and often times defend their drawings!) in front of their classmates. Students would have more creative options if they transferred this project online. What I like about it, too, is that students who can't draw very well will feel like they can participate more.
Jason Oehler (digital storytelling guru) would say that sites like these comic creators are "assistive technology for the artistically challenged." I would MUCH prefer to use these sites to "draw" a cartoon than to do it by hand!
ReplyDeleteI would suggest you give your students a choice of how they create their cartoon. Some may actually prefer to draw their own cartoons, and may be artistically gifted and not know it. Others may enjoy the assignment more if they don't have to be afraid that someone will make fun of their drawings.